ArticleBrain and behavior2020
Changes in resting-state functional connectivity in nonacute sciatica with acupuncture modulation: A preliminary study.
Article in Brain and behavior, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional brain alterations associated with acupuncture for chronic pain: a scoping review of fMRI studies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- A coordinate-based meta-analysis of acupuncture for chronic pain: Evidence from fMRI studies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Neuroimaging Studies of Acupuncture on Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Default mode network and dorsal attentional network connectivity changes as neural markers of spinal manipulative therapy in lumbar disc herniation.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy Attenuates Inflammation in CCI-Induced Sciatica by Inhibiting the NF-κB Pathway.Journal of pharmacopuncture · 2026Article
- Fire needle acupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia of the oral mucosa after initial misdiagnosis: a case report.Journal of medical case reports · 2025Article
- Exploration of Key Brain Regions Involved in Acupuncture and Moxibustion Analgesia: An Imaging-Based Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Deficits in ascending pain modulation pathways in breast cancer survivors with chronic neuropathic pain: A resting-state fMRI study.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Identifying the neural marker of chronic sciatica using multimodal neuroimaging and machine learning analyses.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Efficacy of acupuncture for sciatica: study protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial.Trials · 2021Article
- Article
- Changes in resting-state functional connectivity in nonacute sciatica with acupuncture modulation: A preliminary study.Brain and behavior · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
aimsTo investigate the functional connectivity (FC) in nonacute sciatica and the neuronal correlation of acupuncture analgesia.
methodsA prospective study employing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was conducted. Twelve sciatica patients were enrolled to receive six or 18 acupoints of acupuncture treatment twice a week for 4 weeks. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) and seed-based FC were performed.
resultsRegional homogeneity analysis demonstrated a greater alteration in the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) during the pre-acupuncture phase than during the postacupuncture phase. Compared to that of healthy controls, the PCC-seeded FC (default mode network, DMN) of sciatica patients exhibited hyperconnectivity of PCC-FC with the PCC-bilateral insula, cerebellum, inferior parietal lobule, right medial prefrontal cortex, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during the pre-acupuncture phase as well as hypoconnectivity of PCC-FC with the right cerebellum, left precuneus, and left dorsal medial prefrontal cortex during the postacupuncture phase. Correlation analysis between PCC-seeded FC and behavior measurements revealed a positive association with the duration of sciatica in the right inferior parietal lobule prior to acupuncture treatment.
conclusionsAcupuncture in chronic sciatica patients is associated with normalized DMN activity and modulation of descending pain processing. The changes in the subclinical endophenotype of brain FC after acupuncture treatment may provide clues for understanding the mechanism of acupuncture-mediated analgesia in chronic pain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.